This One Did More For Me Than the Average YA Thriller
Ella is secretly in love with her dead best friend's boyfriend. . . and her best friend seemed to have many secrets of her own.
An entire summer has passed since Ella crashed her car, inadvertently killing her best friend, Hayley. Ella is wracked with guilt over everything that happened that night. And her guilt only continues to grow as she begins to fall for Hayley's boyfriend, Sawyer. Consumed by her feelings, Ella turns to Hayley's diary to try to find peace with her desire for Sawyer. But instead she is assailed by vicious secrets, one's that allude to the fact that Hayley's life wasn't as perfect as she originally thought. Ella begins to question everything that Hayley never told her, and the dangerous secrets that Sawyer may be concealing from her.
I can full out proclaim that by no means is this book perfect. I did lap up every page of it, though. It was quite predictable, often hard to read, and the way the characters talked to each other could be grating from time to time. However, this book evoked so much emotion from me, that I would be lying if I didn't say that I enjoyed it immensely. I must say, there was a point in this story that I was like, "the author wouldn't do that, would she?" And then she did! I totally saw it coming, but I was shocked that the author actually wrote it; are you picking up what I'm putting down?
For some reason, books that deal with grief tend to be some of my favorites. Any book that makes me think about the loss of a loved one just really hits me in the feels. I can all too easily imagine Ella's situation happening time and time again in the real world, and this really broke my heart. It would be so hard to deal with the pain of losing any of my best friends and I would be just as lost as she was. My heart goes out for all those who find themselves in similar boats.
The complicated love triangle situation that was happening in this one made me a tad uncomfortable, but I didn't dislike it nearly as much as the situation that went down in Jandy Nelson's "The Sky Is Everywhere" (PSA: don't cheat on your dead sister with her fiancée). Sawyer rubbed me the wrong way at times, but I knew that the author wrote him semi-ambiguously so that the reader would be suspicious of him. Therefore, I could tell what was what rather swiftly. I would say that Ella and Sawyer's relationship moved way to fast for me, but I know some people do advance their relationships that quickly. The fact that the two had known each other for years was the main reason that I let it fly and it didn't bother me too much.
The immense amount that this book delves into domestic abuse and men preying on women was one of the major highlights. I don't want to talk about too many specific examples extensively due to spoilers, but there are some real creepos in this book (we're looking at you Sean!). I love the way this book pushes the importance of having a few trustworthy people in your corner and the way it cautions which people you put your faith in.
Overall, I am glad that I ended up liking "Everything We Never Said" way more than I usually like young adult thrillers. There were so many parts of this book that were hard for me to palate, but I still ended up consuming this book in one sitting. It made me thing about all the relationships in my life that I occasionally take for granted and what I can do to let them know how much they mean to me. If one enjoys deep looks into complicated relationships, grief, and society's injustices, "Everything We Never Said" might be the romantic thriller for you.
An entire summer has passed since Ella crashed her car, inadvertently killing her best friend, Hayley. Ella is wracked with guilt over everything that happened that night. And her guilt only continues to grow as she begins to fall for Hayley's boyfriend, Sawyer. Consumed by her feelings, Ella turns to Hayley's diary to try to find peace with her desire for Sawyer. But instead she is assailed by vicious secrets, one's that allude to the fact that Hayley's life wasn't as perfect as she originally thought. Ella begins to question everything that Hayley never told her, and the dangerous secrets that Sawyer may be concealing from her.
I can full out proclaim that by no means is this book perfect. I did lap up every page of it, though. It was quite predictable, often hard to read, and the way the characters talked to each other could be grating from time to time. However, this book evoked so much emotion from me, that I would be lying if I didn't say that I enjoyed it immensely. I must say, there was a point in this story that I was like, "the author wouldn't do that, would she?" And then she did! I totally saw it coming, but I was shocked that the author actually wrote it; are you picking up what I'm putting down?
For some reason, books that deal with grief tend to be some of my favorites. Any book that makes me think about the loss of a loved one just really hits me in the feels. I can all too easily imagine Ella's situation happening time and time again in the real world, and this really broke my heart. It would be so hard to deal with the pain of losing any of my best friends and I would be just as lost as she was. My heart goes out for all those who find themselves in similar boats.
The complicated love triangle situation that was happening in this one made me a tad uncomfortable, but I didn't dislike it nearly as much as the situation that went down in Jandy Nelson's "The Sky Is Everywhere" (PSA: don't cheat on your dead sister with her fiancée). Sawyer rubbed me the wrong way at times, but I knew that the author wrote him semi-ambiguously so that the reader would be suspicious of him. Therefore, I could tell what was what rather swiftly. I would say that Ella and Sawyer's relationship moved way to fast for me, but I know some people do advance their relationships that quickly. The fact that the two had known each other for years was the main reason that I let it fly and it didn't bother me too much.
The immense amount that this book delves into domestic abuse and men preying on women was one of the major highlights. I don't want to talk about too many specific examples extensively due to spoilers, but there are some real creepos in this book (we're looking at you Sean!). I love the way this book pushes the importance of having a few trustworthy people in your corner and the way it cautions which people you put your faith in.
Overall, I am glad that I ended up liking "Everything We Never Said" way more than I usually like young adult thrillers. There were so many parts of this book that were hard for me to palate, but I still ended up consuming this book in one sitting. It made me thing about all the relationships in my life that I occasionally take for granted and what I can do to let them know how much they mean to me. If one enjoys deep looks into complicated relationships, grief, and society's injustices, "Everything We Never Said" might be the romantic thriller for you.